Mummies Unearthed in Siberian Graveyard

New York Times: Russian scientists were surprised by five 1,000-year-old mummies, clad in
reindeer skins and copper masks, discovered recently in a Siberian graveyard.
A team of scientists working with remains in a cemetery in Ekaterinburg,
Russia, was surprised recently to unearth the mummified remains of five
individuals clad in copper masks and reindeer skins. The burial rites were
like nothing seen before in the area, and prove that Siberia was a "crossroads
of international trade and cultural diversity," according to researcher Dr.
Natalia Fedorova of the Ural branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The
graves, dating to the 10th and 11th centuries, preserved the bodies due to the
cold, dry permafrost and also contained artifacts.

Dr. Niels Lynnerup, director of the Laboratory of Biological Anthropology at
the University of Copenhagen, was consulted about the finds. He said, "Often
we find skeletons and nothing else. Here we have not only
very detailed human remains, but excellent preservation of all their
materials."